The Best Comedy Specials to Watch This Month: Critic’s Picks

There’s range in this month’s best comedy specials: from half an hour (or less) to 60 minutes (or more); from young (Ralph Barbosa turns 29 in October) to . . . well, not old, but middle-aged (Jim Jefferies is 48); and from North to South America (Australia is in the mix as well, since Jefferies is from Sydney). In his native Chile, Fabrizio Copano hosts his own late-night show; I’m From the Future is his first English-language special and includes the story of how he fell in love with a woman from Texas in Mexico City and ended up driving a U-Haul full of furniture (and a Mexican dog) across the border to New York City. 

Beth Stelling lives on the other side of the country, in Los Angeles, and The Landlord Special will put whatever housing woes you have in perspective. Barbosa (single) and Jefferies (married with kids) both have insights to share on matters of the heart, with Jefferies digging in not just on his marriage and that of his parents, but the whole institution: “My mother never lived long enough to see my father happy—she missed out on it by a couple of days.” As for Ken Flores, his must-see half-hour — part of the LOL! Live series that Hulu and Kevin Hart launched in June — comes with tragedy attached: between the taping last year and its release, Flores died at the age of 28, on the eve of a tour that would have seen him on the road with Barbosa and René Vaca.

Find these specials in our list of September’s best below, listed in approximate order of release.